Neolithodes diomedeae, (BENEDICT, 1894)

Martin, Joel W. & Haney, Todd A., 2005, Decapod crustaceans from hydrothermal vents and cold seeps: a review through 2005, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 145 (4), pp. 445-522 : 483-484

NEOLITHODES DIOMEDEAE ( BENEDICT, 1894)

Type locality: Eastern Pacific Ocean , southern Chile, west of Isle de Chiloe ; 42°36′S, 75°28′W, Steamer Albatross sta. 2789; 2454 m (lectotype and paralectotypes). – Archipelago de Los Chonos, off Bahia Anna Pink; 45°35′S, 75°55′W, Steamer Albatross sta. 2788; 1920 m (paralectotypes) .

Known range: from waters off Peru and off the coast of Chile in the eastern Pacific north to the Sea of Cortez (see below), and in waters around South Georgia Island in the south-eastern Atlantic, 640–2450 m ( Macpherson, 1988: 32 and fig. 11).

Occurrence at vents or seeps: Guaymas Basin (see below).

Material: type locality; USNM 018526 (lectotype). – same locality; USNM 134421 (4 male and 1 female paralectotypes). –Archipelago de Los Chonos, off Bahia Anna Pink; USNM 18527 (34 juvenile paralectotypes, 1 male paralectotype). According to the USNM records, single paralectotype specimens were given to each of the following institutions or persons: BMNH, MNHN, RMNH, ZMUC and E. Macpherson. The cards from the USNM catalogue refer to ‘Yaldwin (1970)’ as the publication in which the lectotype was designated. However, no such designation has been published (J. Yaldwin, pers. comm.), and therefore the aforementioned specimens, if indeed those of the original collection, should be considered syntypes. Specimens from vent localities have been collected by IFREMER and Alvin cruises in the Guaymas Basin (E. Escobar-Briones, pers. comm.), and some of these specimens formed the basis of studies on the natural history of the species at this site ( Soto, Escobar & Cifuentes, 1996; Romero Jarero et al., 1996; Escobar- Briones et al., 2002; Gonzalez Ocampo, 2002). Specimens used for isotopic and elemental analysis were destroyed during those processes, and unfortunately the location of additional specimens from the Guaymas Basin, although some exist, is not known (E. Escobar-Briones, pers. comm.). Abundant non-vent material is cited by Macpherson (1988).

Remarks: This species was originally described as Lithodes diomedeae by Benedict (1894). Neolithodes diomedeae was the first lithodid crab reported from hydrothermal vents (as opposed to seeps) ( Chevaldonné & Olu, 1996). The species was reported by Grassle (1986) as the most commonly encountered crab at hydrothermal vents at 2000 m in the Guaymas Basin, Sea of Cortez. The species appears to feed mainly on organic matter of photoautotrophic origin near bacterial mats and hydrothermal vents in the Guaymas Basin ( Chevaldonné & Olu, 1996; Escobar- Briones et al., 2002; Soto et al., 1996).